Egg drying apparatus with conveyor providing zigzag paths



EGG DRYING APPARATUS WITH CONVEYOR PROVIDING ZIGZAG PATHS Filed April15, 1944 4 Sheets-$heet l may 18, 1948.

G. W. JOHNSON EGG DRYING APPARATUS WITH CONVEYOR PROVIDING ZIGZAG PATHSFiled April 15, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 q) v O j & s

, INVENTOR,

62220? if (ii/7171017.

y W48. G. w. JOHNSON zw44lagglg EGG DRYING APPARATUS WITH CONVEYORPROVIDING ZIGZAG PA'I HS Filed April 15, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 N mzf ay1%48' w, JOHNSQN ZAQ-Lg EGG DRYING APPARATUS WITH CONVEYOR PROVIDINGZIGZAG PATHS Filed April 15, 1944 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented May 18, 1948FFECE EGG DRYING APPARATUS WITH CONVEYOR PROVIDING ZIGZAG PATHS GordonW. Johnson, Overland Park, Kans, as-

signor to Gordon Johnson Company, Kansas City, Mo., a corporation oiMissouri Application April 15, 1944, Serial No. 531,228

Claims. (Cl. 34205) This invention relates to improvements in dryingapparatus and has particular reference to a drying apparatus suitablefor use in conjunction with an egg washing machine. Reference is had tomy pending application, Serial No. 522,186, for Egg washing machine,filed February 10, 1944, wherein is shown an egg washing machineoperating in conjunction with the drying apparatus, not shown in detail.The principal object of the present invention is the provision of adryin apparatus wherein articles such as eggs, etc., are subjected to adraft of hot air while they are being moved on a, conveying means toprevent the accumulation of drops of water thereon.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a dryingapparatus including a housing wherein is mounted a conveyor havingdepressions to receive rows of eggs in longitudinally spaced apartrelation operating in conjunction with stationary spaced apart partitionstrips disposed in the general direction of the travel of said conveyorand adapted to cause transverse movement of the'eggs on the conveyor asthey are being moved forwardly.

Other objects are simplicity and economy of construction, ease andefficiency of operation and adaptability for use in drying articles ofsimilar shape and size.

With these objects in view as well as other objects which will appearduring the course of the specification, reference will now be had to thedrawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view partly broken away of a drying apparatusembodying this invention including in dotted lines, a portion of awashing machine with which it may be operated.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the drying apparatus shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the drying apparatus with the receivingtray removed.

Fig. 4 isa rear elevation of the drying apparatus.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view taken on line V-V of Fig. 6.

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view taken on line IV-IV of Fig. 5.

Fig. '2 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the I upper portion ofthe drying apparatus taken on line VII-V11 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of a portion oitheconveyor and associated p Throughout the several views like referencecharacters refer to similar parts and the numeral I0 designates ahousing supported on the angle iron frame ll including verticallydisposed angle.

irons l2 which extend below the housing to present legs l4; sheet metalside walls iii are removably mounted on the frame to provide easy accessto the operating parts. The front end plate I8 is provided with anopening 20 and the rear end plate 22 has an opening 24. The framework I!also includes horizontally disposed angle irons 26 at the top of theframe and transverse cross angle irons 28 and 30 disposed respectivelyadjacent the front and rear ends of the housing member.

A shaft 32 is transversely mounted'outside the rear end of the housingin bearings 34 which are mounted on brackets 36 rigidly attached to theangle iron frame. Sprocket wheels 38 are rigidly attached to shaft 32for carrying an endless eonveyor belt 40. Shaft 42 is rotatably mountedin 20 parallel relation to shaft 32 in bearings 44 which in turn arerigidly attached to angle irons [2 as clearly shown in Fig. 6. Thisshaft i provided with rigidly attached sprocket wheels 46. The

endless conveyor belt 40 is an endless belt com- 25 prising sprocketchains 48 carrying transverse slats 50. A slat is attached at itsopposite ends to corresponding links of the side chains 48 and areslightly spaced apart to receive eggs therebetween.

Referring to Fig. 8, it will be noted that the slats 50 are angled incross section so as to present pockets or depressions 52 for receivingthe eggs. It will be observed that the slats are so spaced that when theeggs E are positioned thereon, they will naturally take positions asshown in Fig. 8 so that they are longitudinally spaced apart to permitthe free passage of warm air there-between and also to avoid as much aspossible the contacting of adjacent eggs. The adjacent depressions orpockets 52 are spaced sufiiciently close together so that the eggs wouldnot normally be located in adjacent depressions. Shaft 32 at one of itsends extends outwardly beyond bearing 34 and is provided with a spurgear 54 which is normally in mesh with the spur gear 56 of the washer 58shown in dotted lines oi Fig. 1.

It is not desired to limit our invention to this particular type ofdrive since many other forms of drive such as belt drives, individualmotor drives, etc., might be used. However, it is desirable that the eggdryer be maintained in synchronism with the egg washing machine in orderto take care of all eggs being washed and to maintain the dryer inproperly filled condition durin the drying operation.

It will be noted that the endless conveyor extends through the openings20 and 24 in the end plates with suflicient space there-above to permitthe free passage of eggs to and from the dryin chamber. At the inletopening 24 it will be noted that opening 24 above the conveyor ispartially closed by means of flexible tabs 60; these tabs are positionedin the path of travel of the incoming eggs and have a tendency to wipeaccumulated water therefrom and also to prevent undue escape of heatedair from the housing.

The side sprocket chains 48 at their upper reach rest on angle irons 62while the lower reach rests on angle irons 64. It will be noted thatthese angle irons extend the full length of the housing and are rigidlyattached to the angle iron frame work, thus presenting a flxed bearingfor the upper and lower reaches of the endless conveyor to maintain theslats 60 in proper planar position during the drying operation. An airduct 66 is formed about the upper reach of the endless conveyor by meansof a slidably mounted sheet metal table 68 positioned directly below theconveyor and an inverted U-shaped member I positioned thereabove asufficient distance to permit the free passage of the eggsthere-beneath. The rearward end of member I0 is spaced apart from theend wall 22 while the forward end thereof is spaced a greater distancefrom the front end I8 of the housing.

Brackets I2 welded or otherwise secured to angle irons 62 serve tosupport the U-shaped member as best shown in Fig. '7. An upwardly andinwardly extending deflector I4 secured to the frame adjacent the upperedge of opening 24 serves to deflect air passing through the duct 66into the housing chamber above member I0.

A fan I6 of the sirocco or any other suitable type having a fan housing18 and a shaft I02 mounted in bearings 88 is carried by a removableframe 82 carried by frame II. The housing I8 is open at 84 so as todirect the air into the air duct 66. The heated air takes the courseindicated by the arrows and passes over and between the electric heatunits 86 also carried by the frame 82. Since the air must enter the fanthrough the openings 88 at the ends of the fan housing, it is apparentthat this air will come in close contact with the heating elements andwill be heated to a, proper degree to dry the eggs. It is intended topermit the escape of a certain percentage of the moisture laden air fromthe housing through partially closed opening 24 and to admit fresh airthrough the opening 20 which, when heated, will pick up the secured atspaced apart intervals by straps 92 to brackets 12 serve to maintain thestrips in position just above the upper reach of endless conveyor belt40 and in horizontal alignment with a normal egg that mightlie-positioned on the conveyor. I

Referring to Fig. 6. it will be noted that these 4 strips aretransversely offset in opposite directions throughout their length sothat the eggs E will take a general zig-zag path indicated in Fig.

6. Since the slats 60 tend to move the eggs in a straight line, it willbe noted that the eggs will first strike the inclined surface of one ofthe strips 00 and be forced transversely of the conveyor belt and thenwill contact the opposite strip and be moved in a reverse transversedirection. This process will be continued as the belt carries the eggsthe full length of the conveyor. Due to the shape of the eggs, they havea tendency to be up-ended and turned over as they change their course oftravel. This movement of the eggs causes a spreading of any accumulatedmoisture, thus exposing the larger surface of water to the drying effectof the heat- 1 ed air to increase the rate of drying. It is contemplatedthat the speed of the eggs through the dryer chamber shall be relativelyslow so that there will be no objectionable movements of the eggs thatmight cause breakage.

The slidably mounted table 68 not only serves to conflne the air to theair duct 66 but also serves to receive any leakage from eggs which thencould be easily removed by sliding the table from the machine andcleaning the same. Due ,to the fact that the heated air is constantlypassing over the table 68, any leakage thereon would be subjected tothis heat and would tend to be congealed to prevent objectionabledripping of eggs over the dryer mechanism.

Substantially tangent with the upper surface of the sprocket wheel 46 isa removable tray 84 which is mounted in a frame 96 supported at itsforward edge by legs 98 and pivotally attached to the frame I2 by meansof bolts I00. The fan shaft I02 extends outwardly through housing I0 andis provided with a belt wheel I04 to receive a belt I06 which is adaptedto operatively engage the drive pulley I08 mounted on the shaft IIO ofmotor II2 which in turn is rigidly mounted on the front wall I8 of thehousing. This belt-drive is protected by means of a removable housing 4having pins H6. adapted to engagethe hook members II8 carried by theside wall I8.

The dryer above described provides means for moving a plurality of rowsof eggs by means of an endless belt, and to simultaneously roll the eggstransversely whereby water on the egg surfaces will be spread therebycausing the egg to be dried rapidly by a hot air current set up by thefan and heated by the electric heaters.

Many minor changes might be made in the drying structure withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention.

What I claim as new and desire to be secured by Letters Patents is:

1. A drying apparatus comprising a housing, an endless conveyor mountedin said housing and having transverse slots formed in the surfacethereof to receive a row of eggs in longitudinally spaced apartrelation, and a series of spaced apart partition strips of angledzig-zag shape each com- P sed of a plurality of straight rectilinearmembers and disposed in the general direction of travel of said conveyorbut with the individual members of each of said strips disposed inangled relation to said direction of travel, adjacent partition stripsbeing adapted to receive a row of eggs therebetween and to causetransverse movement and unending of said eggs as they are -movedforwardly by said conveyor.

2. Ina drying apparatus a housing, an endless conveyor comprising sidechains and transverse bars mounted in said housing and having trans-'verse grooves between adjacent bars to receive a row of eggs inlongitudinall spaced apart relation; and a plurality of series of spacedapart straight partition strips, corresponding strips of each of saidseries being joined together in angled relation to form a zig-zagpartition disposed in the general direction'of travel of said conveyor,adjacent strips being adapted to receive a row of eggs therebetweenandto cause zig-zag movement of each of said eggs as they are movedforwardly by said conveyor.

3. In a drying apparatus comprising a housing. an endless conveyoroperatively mounted in said housing and adapted to receive wet eggsthereon and having transversely disposed spaced apart slots formed inthe surface thereof whereby said eggs are secured in longitudinallydisposed spaced apart rows, partition strips each having a plurality ofrectilinear sections disposed in zig-zag angled relation and positionedadjacent the top surface of said conveyor and extending substantiallythe full length thereof, adapted to receive rows of eggs betweenadjacent strips and .to cause transverse movement of said eggs as theyare moved longitudinally by said conveyor, an air duct disposed adjacentsaid conveyer, and means whereby heated air is caused to pass throughsaid air duct to dry the eggs carried by said conveyor. Y

4. In a drying apparatus comprising a housing, an endless conveyoroperatively mounted in said housing and adapted to receive wet eggsthereon and having transversely disposed spaced apart slots formed inthe surface thereof whereby said eggs are secured in longitudinallydisposed spaced apart rows, partition strips each having a plurality ofrectilinear sections disposed in zig-zag angled relation and positionedadjacent the top surface of said conveyor and extending substantiallythe full length thereof, adapted to receive rows of eggs betweenadjacent-strips and to cause 6 transverse movement of said eggs as theyare moved longitudinally by said conveyor, and means whereby a currentof hot air is forced about said wet eggs in a direction opposed to thetravel of said conveyor.

5. In a drying apparatus comprising a housing, an endless conveyoroperatively mounted in said housing and adapted to receive wet eggsthereon, and including transversely disposed apart s'lats whereby saideggs are secured in longitudinally spaced apart relation therebetween,longitudinally disposed spaced apart partition strips, each strip havinga plurality of rectilinear sections disposed in zig-zag angled relationand positioned adjacent the top surface of said conveyor and extendingsubstantially the full length thereof, adapted to receive rows of eggsbetween adjacent strips and to cause transverse movement of said eggs inopposite directions as they are moved longitudinally by said conveyor.

GORDON W. JOHNSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,194,538 Parker Aug. 15, 19161,214,234 Skinner Jan. 30, 1917 1,214,519 Demuth Feb, 6, 1917 1,346,986Stamm -1 July 20, 1920 1,446,580 Perry Feb. 27, 1923 1,710,323 SchmittApr. 23, 1929 1,947,338 Furbush Feb. 13, 1934 1,955,749 Jones Apr. 24,1934 2,096,105 Grifiith Oct. 19, 1937 2,326,115 Arthur Aug. 10, 1943FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 458,518 Germany Apr. 12, 1928513,185 France Feb. 9, 1921

